diff --git a/net/interface.go b/net/interface.go
index 71a774456c28..bac53497552b 100644
--- a/net/interface.go
+++ b/net/interface.go
@@ -48,3 +48,12 @@ type Handler srv.Handler
 
 // Service interface for network resources.
 type Service srv.Service
+
+// Dialer service that can dial to peers
+// (this is usually just a Network, but other services may not need the whole
+// thing, and thus it becomes easier to mock)
+type Dialer interface {
+
+	// DialPeer attempts to establish a connection to a given peer
+	DialPeer(peer.Peer) error
+}
diff --git a/routing/dht/dht.go b/routing/dht/dht.go
index 1cbb73df4dc8..c6079855ac2b 100644
--- a/routing/dht/dht.go
+++ b/routing/dht/dht.go
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ type IpfsDHT struct {
 	// NOTE: (currently, only a single table is used)
 	routingTables []*kb.RoutingTable
 
-	// the network interface. service
-	network inet.Network
-	sender  inet.Sender
+	// the network services we need
+	dialer inet.Dialer
+	sender inet.Sender
 
 	// Local peer (yourself)
 	self peer.Peer
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@ type IpfsDHT struct {
 }
 
 // NewDHT creates a new DHT object with the given peer as the 'local' host
-func NewDHT(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer, ps peer.Peerstore, net inet.Network, sender inet.Sender, dstore ds.Datastore) *IpfsDHT {
+func NewDHT(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer, ps peer.Peerstore, dialer inet.Dialer, sender inet.Sender, dstore ds.Datastore) *IpfsDHT {
 	dht := new(IpfsDHT)
-	dht.network = net
+	dht.dialer = dialer
 	dht.sender = sender
 	dht.datastore = dstore
 	dht.self = p
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) Connect(ctx context.Context, npeer peer.Peer) (peer.Peer, er
 	//
 	//   /ip4/10.20.30.40/tcp/1234/ipfs/Qxhxxchxzcncxnzcnxzcxzm
 	//
-	err := dht.network.DialPeer(npeer)
+	err := dht.dialer.DialPeer(npeer)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) ensureConnectedToPeer(pbp *Message_Peer) (peer.Peer, error)
 	}
 
 	// dial connection
-	err = dht.network.DialPeer(p)
+	err = dht.dialer.DialPeer(p)
 	return p, err
 }
 
diff --git a/routing/dht/query.go b/routing/dht/query.go
index 4096632b6ae4..d15e939b7b61 100644
--- a/routing/dht/query.go
+++ b/routing/dht/query.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package dht
 import (
 	"sync"
 
+	inet "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/net"
 	peer "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/peer"
 	queue "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/peer/queue"
 	kb "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/routing/kbucket"
@@ -14,17 +15,12 @@ import (
 
 var maxQueryConcurrency = AlphaValue
 
-type dhtDialer interface {
-	// DialPeer attempts to establish a connection to a given peer
-	DialPeer(peer.Peer) error
-}
-
 type dhtQuery struct {
 	// the key we're querying for
 	key u.Key
 
 	// dialer used to ensure we're connected to peers
-	dialer dhtDialer
+	dialer inet.Dialer
 
 	// the function to execute per peer
 	qfunc queryFunc
@@ -42,7 +38,7 @@ type dhtQueryResult struct {
 }
 
 // constructs query
-func newQuery(k u.Key, d dhtDialer, f queryFunc) *dhtQuery {
+func newQuery(k u.Key, d inet.Dialer, f queryFunc) *dhtQuery {
 	return &dhtQuery{
 		key:         k,
 		dialer:      d,
diff --git a/routing/dht/routing.go b/routing/dht/routing.go
index 8c0d69860763..b557aa76c50b 100644
--- a/routing/dht/routing.go
+++ b/routing/dht/routing.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) PutValue(ctx context.Context, key u.Key, value []byte) error
 		peers = append(peers, npeers...)
 	}
 
-	query := newQuery(key, dht.network, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
+	query := newQuery(key, dht.dialer, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
 		log.Debug("%s PutValue qry part %v", dht.self, p)
 		err := dht.putValueToNetwork(ctx, p, string(key), value)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) GetValue(ctx context.Context, key u.Key) ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	// setup the Query
-	query := newQuery(key, dht.network, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
+	query := newQuery(key, dht.dialer, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
 
 		val, peers, err := dht.getValueOrPeers(ctx, p, key, routeLevel)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) findPeerMultiple(ctx context.Context, id peer.ID) (peer.Peer
 	}
 
 	// setup query function
-	query := newQuery(u.Key(id), dht.network, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
+	query := newQuery(u.Key(id), dht.dialer, func(ctx context.Context, p peer.Peer) (*dhtQueryResult, error) {
 		pmes, err := dht.findPeerSingle(ctx, p, id, routeLevel)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error("%s getPeer error: %v", dht.self, err)